POINTS AFTER.

Restless 49er Young Running On Empty

Grbac Injury Forces 49er Return

October 22, 1996|By Don Pierson.

Glory came at an obvious price for Steve Young, George Seifert and the San Francisco 49ers when they rallied to beat the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday.

Although Seifert has been cautious in risking Young to further damage of his injured groin, it was Seifert who called the 15-yard sweep by Young that beat the Bengals 28-21 with 1 minute 8 seconds left. Young limped into the end zone in pain but nevertheless celebrated Seifert's 100th victory in his 132nd game, an NFL record.

"What would you do on defense? Would you think we'd have the quarterback running with the ball?" Seifert asked in explaining his play call.

Well, no, not after the gimpy Young had been benched in the first half for Elvis Grbac, who then left with a left (non-throwing) shoulder injury. On Monday, Grbac underwent an MRI that revealed the strain in his shoulder, and Seifert said he probably would not be able to practice much, if at all, this week.

The 49ers' third-stringer is Jeff Brohm, a second-year player out of Louisville.

It is apparent now that Young's injury, a torn ligament, is not going to heal anytime soon. But Young sounded happy that the comeback may have convinced Seifert to quit babying him.

"Maybe I showed him we can fight through this and not get worse," Young said Sunday. "It's painful to do certain things, but I don't want to make it look like I can't go play football."

Young had missed three games, and Seifert said last week: "He's basically cleared to play. It's just how much at risk are we? Is it worth the risk? Do we extend this (layoff) for another week, or are we ready to go for it, and I don't have the information right now."

Trailing the lowly Bengals 21-0 in the first half apparently helped provide further information.

Before the thrill of competition clouded more conservative judgment, Young had agreed with Seifert's ultimate goal, saying: "What we don't want is to play and then sit down for two weeks. What we want to do is play for 10 weeks, that's the key."

Now, there may be little choice.

Comeback kids: Until Sunday, the reputations of such luminaries as Young and the Cowboys' Troy Aikman were missing one ingredient. They were not known as comeback quarterbacks, at least not to the extent of two of their predecessors, Joe Montana and Roger Staubach.

That Young and Aikman guide teams so efficient they rarely trail is of little consequence to the fan who wants everything. When they are behind, they want John Elway.

On Sunday, Young's two touchdown passes and 15-yard limp for a third score in the second half capped the second-biggest comeback in 49er history.

Aikman needed to come back twice in the second half to beat the Atlanta Falcons 32-28. His 60-yard pass to Kelvin Martin with 1:42 left sealed it.

Two other quarterbacks led comeback wins Sunday. Buffalo's Jim Kelly got the Bills in position to beat the Jets on Steve Christie's sixth field goal one week after sounding like he wanted to hand over the reins to young Todd Collins. Houston's Chris Chandler lofted a 34-yard touchdown pass to Willie Davis with five minutes left to overcome a 13-9 Pittsburgh lead and spark a 23-13 victory.

Another veteran comeback specialist, Dan Marino, will return to the Dolphins' starting lineup next Sunday against Dallas. He broke his ankle Sept. 23.

More ex-Bears: Former Bears quarterbacks Jim Harbaugh of the Indianapolis Colts and Mike Tomczak of the Steelers both lost Sunday, marking the first week all season that at least one ex-Bear quarterback didn't rub salt in Bear wounds.

However, there are ex-Bears everywhere to haunt the current regime even during the security of a bye week.

The leading receiver in the NFL Sunday was Keenan McCardell of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He caught 16 passes for 232 yards in a lost cause against St. Louis. The 16 receptions tied him for third-best ever in a game. McCardell's Chicago career was brief. He spent only 22 days on the practice squad in 1993 after the Bears claimed him off the Browns' practice squad. When the Bears couldn't find room for him on the active roster, the Browns reclaimed him.

The third-leading rusher in the NFL Sunday was Anthony Johnson of the Carolina Panthers. The replacement for injured Tshimanga Biakabutuka recorded his third consecutive 100-yard game to help beat the Saints.

Former Notre Damer Johnson spent the first nine games of last season as a Bear, but carried the ball only six times for 30 yards and caught 13 passes for 86 yards before he was released.